Sepsis is a severe inflammatory response to infection. Infections of the lungs (such as pneumonia), bladder, digestive system or kidney are common precipitating factors. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), more than 1.7 million adults develop sepsis each year in the United States — which equates to a diagnosis every 20 seconds. It is the most common cause of death in hospitals, with one in three hospital patients dying due to sepsis. Let’s take a look at this serious health c ...read more

The theory of evolution, worked out in the nineteenth century by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, with many tweaks since, is one of the most well-supported theories in science. Evidence from a wide range of disciplines backs up the basics of the theory. Or, as paleontologist and historian of science Stephen Jay Gould put it in an essay in the May 1981 print issue of this magazine, the theory of evolution is “one of the best documented, most compelling and exciting concepts in all of ...read more

Saqqara, the sprawling burial complex to the south of Cairo, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site layered with thousands of years of Egyptian history. Not only does it have more than a dozen pyramids, it boasts numerous other tombs, courts and halls – and archaeologists keep discovering more. In May 2023, government officials announced the unearthing of two new tombs and two facilities once used for embalming.Ancient Egypt and MummificationThe new embalming facilities date to about 2,400 years ago ...read more

The adaptable pterosaur – the first flying vertebrate – lived in dark, polar conditions in what is now Australia, according to a new paper. The research identified two pterosaur bones more than 30 years after their initial discovery.The bones date to 107 million years ago, during the Cretaceous Period, when Australia formed a large southern landmass with Antarctica, New Zealand and South America. At that time, the Australian state of Victoria – where volunteers first found the fossils in t ...read more

The portrayal of a narcissist is everywhere in movies, books and even crime documentaries. Some of these archetypes are compelling. If you try to poll people on the streets on how they define a narcissist, they may come up with a string of flowery names such as self-centered, egotistic, vain, cocky and so on. In psychology, the term narcissism describes someone who has “an excessive love or admiration of oneself, often to the detriment of others,” says licensed psychotherapist Annie Wright � ...read more

Europeans had never seen a hummingbird when they first arrived in the Americas. Because of their petite size and vibrant, beautiful coloring, they called the birds Joyas voladoras — flying jewels. Delicate as they are, they don't let their small size get in the way of being bold and unique in the animal kingdom. Here are some interesting facts about the world's favorite J. voldoras. Types of Hummingbirds(Credit:Ondrej Prosicky/Shutterstock) Of the over 330 species of hummingbirds worldwid ...read more

Some 1.7 billion Tyrannosaurus rex dinosaurs once roamed the earth, according to a new paper. But that wasn’t all at once – the paper’s model estimates that only 19,200 were alive at any one time, a more fitting number considering their role as top predators.The study follows research from 2021 that pegged the total number of T. rex dinosaurs at 2.5 billion. But the new paper’s author, Eva Griebeler – an evolutionary ecologist at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz – revised key ...read more

The skip in the human footstep – the flexing of the arch with each step – does little to help carry the body forward, a new study has found. Instead, it serves to keep the ankle upright, so that we walk in the characteristic way of human beings and not like other apes.The finding overturns conventional wisdom and may help in the treatment of people whose arches have become rigid due to illness or injury.“We thought originally that the spring-like arch helped to lift the body into the next ...read more

The Paleozoic Museum in Central Park was sure to be spectacular. The 1868 plans for the museum imagined an immense and sophisticated space filled with fanciful dioramas of dinosaurs and other ancient animals, all intended to incite a passion for paleontology in its visitors.But in May 1871, the models that were made for the museum were destroyed by a band of sledgehammer-wielding workmen. The incident was one of the most strange and startling moments in the history of paleontology. And as the sm ...read more

The Moonrush has begun. Last year, NASA’s Artemis 1 mission flew to the Moon and back in a test of the technology that will take humans back to the surface in the next few years. The Artemis program will establish a space station called the Lunar Gateway in orbit and a base on the surface. There will be other visitors too — both Russia and China are planning crewed missions. And some 30 uncrewed missions are in various stages of completion by spacefaring nations and private companies.All tha ...read more